Sonic Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:SAH) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.30

Sonic Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:SAH) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 25th, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of 0.30 per share on Monday, July 15th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th.

Sonic Automotive has raised its dividend by an average of 42.6% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 3 years. Sonic Automotive has a dividend payout ratio of 18.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Sonic Automotive to earn $6.37 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 18.8%.

Sonic Automotive Price Performance

SAH opened at $56.66 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.10. The company has a market capitalization of $1.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.40 and a beta of 1.82. Sonic Automotive has a 12-month low of $39.02 and a 12-month high of $60.24. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $52.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $51.86.

Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $3.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.45 billion. Sonic Automotive had a return on equity of 28.06% and a net margin of 1.24%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.33 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Sonic Automotive will post 5.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SAH has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Sonic Automotive from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. TheStreet upgraded Sonic Automotive from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. StockNews.com cut Sonic Automotive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Sonic Automotive from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $55.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.00.

Sonic Automotive Company Profile

Sonic Automotive, Inc operates as an automotive retailer in the United States. It operates in three segments, Franchised Dealerships, EchoPark, and Powersports. The Franchised Dealerships segment is involved in the sale of new and used cars and light trucks, and replacement parts; provision of vehicle maintenance, manufacturer warranty repair, and paint and collision repair services; and arrangement of extended warranties, service contracts, financing, insurance, and other aftermarket products for its guests.